RayCee

Indigenous teams would be very competitive and bad press for the defectors but I'd rather see nations that would benefit from the exposure instead. I see the USA an the most obvious but would have thought Serbia would have been in the mix. RL in Spain seems to be in an inactive state.

I see blow outs in just about every sporting tournament but somehow RL must be gauged differently. I view tournaments as a celebration of the sport and all attendees contributors. Hopefully out of this comes more respect and the RFL view internationals in Europe/Northern hemisphere as a vital part of the yearly calendar.

I think we've all said things that in hindsight we would have said differently. I appreciate your input and unbiased honesty and many others here would feel the same way.

The first highlighted part was the point I was making. The second highlighted area seems to me to undermine what you were saying. In a whole squad only a few were not English lads. GB could have been called England, not had players from other nations and still been just about as competitive. I don't say that to disparage any players who represented GB but it was effectively an England side with a few very worthy additions. On the third highlight, I said " there has always been an England presence of players if not in name". It was a minor point in a post emphasising the French influence on the international game.

There are so many inconsistent statements. Trent Robinson just said that the difference was that Europe has handled the pandemic with vaccinate and be less restrictive but in the SH it was lockdown and not so big on vaccinating. For that reason the refusal to go was understandable. If it the difference was governmental handling of the virus, why were NZ in particular insisting on assurances from the WC committee of a protection level based, not on their efforts, but the general handling of the situation? if Trent has read this right, the WC committee could never deliver an assurance they would be happy with. So this waiting for assurances the NZRL engaged in could only end with one result. I think they knew that. It was all done to look like there was a legitimate reason to pull out when that was going to be the the outcome regardless of assurances. It hasn't fooled everyone.

The GB was really England so there has always been an England presence of players if not in name. France were the instigator of the WC in RL and France the first nation to hold a WC. It was mainly through a man Paul Barrière who also was behind the formation of the International RL board. He refused to have his name attached to the WC trophy. He learned about RL when fighting for the French resistance and became heavily involved with RL after the war. When people today think about the RL WC, they forget the efforts of those before them and even the present WC committee have made. That in itself should create a feeling of respect for the WC. Maybe I'm too sentimental.

We all at things differently and I can’t see anything you’ve mentioned having merit. Going ahead is the best option IMO and cancelling it altogether is the second best. For me a postponement is the worst option. There are no guarantees for 2022. The cost of postponing will be sizable. Going up against a Football WC too is foolish. The ARLC don’t seem interested in the RL WC and I that won’t change next year when they find other reasons not to support it. Handing all power to the ARLC is the last thing the sport needs. International RL should not be dictated to by any body within the sport. As for the financial situation, the WC organisers are in the best position to make a call on that one. Your assumed pessimism regarding people turning off the tournament is speculation and unproven. Again, the WC committee will consider all such factors and will move forward accordingly. The glass is still half full to me.

This shows that the COVID protocols for the WC aren’t the problem. The issue would be all players respecting them. There have been too many beaches where players have ignored the protocols, even at the risk of losing lucrative contracts. I'm not sure their participation is any more likely if the NRL comp cannot be completed. The WC would still affect some preseason training.

I think people would be more sympathetic with the ARLC and the NZRL if they were desperately trying to get to the WC. They clearly aren’t interested in attending and COVID then becomes a convenient excuse. Rather than wishing everyone else a successful,event, their attitude smacks of hoping the WC fails. I am shocked how brazenly this is being played out. A potential schism that has been smouldering for years is now looking like a gaping divide. The weakness of RL in the Northern hemisphere is being taken advantage of in a shameless way.

It may be what Lord Acton once saiid “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely”.

They don't want to participate and influence others to join them? If pressure is applied, even tacitly, that's bordering on sabotage. I can't believe they would stoop that low.

If they get money for attending and expenses are covered, I wonder how they could lose millions? It's turning into a real power game.

If my recollection serves me right, he had to more than badger them. The 2001 Kangaroo Tour nearly didn't proceed for security reasons. Yet, when Maurice Lindsay went to sort it out, he learned that they were still smarting over the weather disaster 2000 WC which hadn't produced any profit. No participants got anything financially. When a sizable sum was offered by the RFL as compensation, the dangers were mitigated.

Forbes put up this article: https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikemeehallwood/2021/07/21/this-is-why-the-rugby-league-world-cup-had-to-happen-in-2021/?sh=995c4537623e

Whatever we all think, the RL WC committee have to consider the options. I hope the only reason to cancel would be financial and not yielding to those those who already feel they have the whip hand. Rescheduling to appease those who won’t even put up a team of players willing to represent them is a weak reaction.

Which lesser, not playing it this year of not playing it next year?

As long as it isn’t to leverage more money out of the organising committee, yes a stroke of genius.

I'm picking it will be called off now but it shouldn’t. Sport is going on all around the world. When the NZRL came out saying they wanted assurances of player safety when obviously the organisers had already given them that, I had my suspicions that this was a precursor to a jointly organised decision to pull out. The will to make the effort wasn’t there from either NZ or Australia. There can still be an entertaining tournament for people to enjoy. If it can be held without negative financial implications then bring it on.

I think the Nine's concept hasn't been as exploited as well as it could have been. Basing a whole competition on it is interesting. It also answers the question I asked on another post about where to from here for RL in Canada.

I also wonder hat role the player's agent has in this impasse.

Apparently the Eels are now saying he has to sign by the end of the week or their offer is withdrawn.